Italian Deli Meat Wrapped Asparagus

May 3, 2017

Italian Deli Meat Wrapped Asparagus

I will admit, this creation came about as a “I have ingredients in my fridge that I need to get rid of.” Some of the best (and also the worse…) culinary creations have come from that particular predicament, but this definitely turned out to be one of the best. Yay!!

1) Clean and trim your asparagus, and sautéing it in a pan with a bit of olive oil. I didn’t season these (not even with salt!), because the cured meat is going to bring in the extra flavor.

2) Prepare your assembly station. Be sure to let the asparagus cool before you start wrapping it!! Lay a few spears of asparagus across the meat slice, about 1/3 of the way up.

3) Begin wrapping, keeping your roll as tight as possible. Place your newly wrapped veggies into a dry pan on medium low, seam side down. Press and hold it for a few seconds until the roll will stay in place without any pressure. You don’t need toothpicks, as the meat will cook together at the seam, although you can use them if you’d like.

4) Roll the wrapped asparagus around the pan until all sides of the cured meat are browned. Remember, you’re not really cooking anything since the asparagus was cooked already, and the meat was previously cured. You just want to add some of that golden brown caramelization to the meat.

5) That’s it! You’re done. These turned out a lot better than I expected actually.

I think these are great as a special side dish. If you trimmed the asparagus up a bit and used toothpicks, I think it would be a great hors d’oeuvres for a party too! Let me know what you think these would go with!